EASTERN PROVINCE NGOMA — Following complaints that the district had wrongly lined up many houses for demolition in Kibungo town, authorities have reduced the number to five. This was announced by the district director of lands Charles Twayigize. Earlier, authorities had marked 20 houses deemed weak to be razed down in Kibungo town. Twayigize explained that a new re-evaluation team commissioned by the District Advisory Council (DAC) meeting of July 18 2008; found out that there were houses which were still strong and only needed to be rehabilitated. The owners, he said, were asked to renovate the houses before allowing tenants to operate from there. The tenants operating in all houses that were originally marked to be rehabilitated would continue their business along side the rehabilitation work. According to Twayigize, other houses spared belong to landlords whose financial capacity is low to afford building three storeyed buildings as per the new district plan. Such houses will also just be refurbished. “We found it impossible to demolish houses when actually the owners can not in all ways afford to erect new ones as required by the district,” Twayigize said. “We can not demolish a house and leave a vacant place in town that will be there for years and years before the owner puts up a new building,” he added. Houses for the orphans, Genocide survivors and other vulnerable families who can not afford to put up new ones were also spared, Twayigize said. This new development brings the number to over 30 houses to be rehabilitated in Kibungo town only. The DAC meeting of July 18 2008 also set August 31, 2008 as the deadline for finishing up the rehabilitation exercise. The new district policy, whose implementation started in early June, aiming at giving the town a new face, has so far affected close to 200 tenants. As part of the plan, some traders affected were given lock-ups in Kibungo market. But those who had containers were not given any alternative after evicting them. Ends
